Previously, many types of artificial lures have been used in endeavoring to provide an effective means for producing bait that will constantly attract fish. Prior art generally includes a V-shaped wireform arm or shaft with the spinner, or spinners, on one end and a weighted hook on the other end attached to a metal body.
Usually, the hook is turned toward the arm and a fishing line is secured at the apex of the V-shaped member. In some cases the body is covered with a plastic skirt, which encloses the hook to obscure its identity and add a ripple effect, when the lure is retrieved after casting. Skirts are popular and have been incorporated in most fishing lures in this art for sometime. The skirts are usually single hue, but may be mixed strands or filaments of varied colors.
Spinners have been widely used and are usually mounted on a shaft that permits complete rotation when drawn through the water. The shape of the spinner blade has been developed over the years to a fine art, as it determines not only its rotational speed, but also the angle of descent relative to its rotational axis. A so-called Colorado blade rotates rather slowly and raises the lure in the water, it also adds a flutter effect to the artificial bait. By contrast, the Willow Leaf blade rotates rapidly with a small angle relative to its rotational axis. Other shapes, such as the Indiana and French spinner fall somewhere in-between and have other idiosyncrasies that slightly alter their operational characteristics.
Prior art has also developed noise producing spinners, known as "buzz bait", using multi-blade blades that are mounted onto the wire shaft and are shaped to create a cavitation emitting a sonic pulse. Multiple blades usually include a certain angular relationship that are changed to regulate the noise produced by the spinners making a chattering noise like consecutive vibrant pings rather than dead sounding clicks. Still others have multiple blades striking each other as they rotate.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention, however the following U.S. patents are considered related:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 5,605,004 Boullt et al Feb. 25, 1997 5,481,821 Stanley Jan. 9, 1996 5,394,636 Rabideau Mar. 7, 1995 5,226,268 Sisson, Jr. Jul. 13, 1993 5,138,789 Hood Aug. 18, 1992 4,718,191 Gentry Jan. 12, 1988 4,617,007 Stanczyk Jun. 9, 1987 ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,004, issued to Boullt et al, teaches a fishing lure with a pair of outwardly extending arms connected with an arched loop. One of the arms utilizes a hollow tube over the wire shaft for stiffness of the arm. The preferred embodiment of the instant invention employs Boullt et al single wire and hollow tube, however in an entirely different and unique combination, as one arm is used as a weed guard and spinners are attached to the loop and appended shaft.
Stanley, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,821, discloses a fishing lure that has a bow shaped arm with one end thinner than the other. The V-shaped wire frame has a hook on one end and a blade on the thinner end. The frame tapers uniformly from one end to the other.
Pat. No. 5,394,636 of Rabideau is for a combined jig and spinner having the benefits of each. The combination permits the blade to rotate in both the rising and falling motions and prevents the spinner from being drawn into the jig head by the Venturi effect.
Sisson, Jr.'s Pat. No. 5,266,268 teaches a lure with a bifurcated frame with a hook on one arm and a spinner on the other. A dive plate, in fan shape, is located near the apex of the frame and is juxtapositioned therebetween. The dive plate creates a bottom hugging lure, as when it is pulled through the water, it steers the lure in a downward direction.
Pat. No. 5,138,789, of Hood, discloses a spinner with hydrodynamic blades having holes for making noise and a journal formed into the body to permit the spinner to rotate concentrically and symmetrically around its attaching wire.
Pat. No. 4,718,191 of Gentry discloses a two-sided angular frame with one or more buzz blades, or spinner blades, mounted on one of the arms. The arm member is free to move or pivot back and forth at the point of attachment, however it will not strike the other parts of the lure. The blades move vigorously from side to side, imitating live bait.
Stanczyk's Pat. No. 4,671,007 teaches a multiple fishing lure fastener having a single continuous wire bent into a V-shape with an eyelet on each end. Skirted hooks are attached into each eyelet and a spinner is attached into a figure-eight formed into the apex of the wire.
It is apparent that most of this prior art utilizes a hook and a generally configured V-shaped shaft with spinners or noise emitting blades on one or both of the arms. The distinction found in this art apparently varies only slightly, making minor improvements functionally different and, consequently, patentably distinguishable.